Ballot-box



R. L.V JONES.

BALLOT'BOX.

(No Model.)

Patented Api'. 28

INVENTU F @Jm WnNEssEs:

NEY

mm u

UNITED STATES .PATENT OFFICE.

RILEY I.. JONES, or sAeINAw, MIcI-IIGAN.

BALLoT-Box.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,962, dated April 28, 1896.

Application filed July 25, 1895. Serial No. 557,094. (NO model.)

To all whom t mag/concern:

Beit known that I, RILEY L. JONES, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Ballot-Box', of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in ballot-boxes of the sort wherein balls or cubes are used as ballot-s. Y

The object of the invention is to produce a box or receptacle for the aforesaid purpose in which the ballots may be always retained, in which, when voting, they may be readily passed from the open or retaining to the closed or receiving compartment,and in which the ballots cast may be simultaneously and instantly transferred again to the retainingcompartment, thereby greatly facilitating the taking of a series of ballots.

One essential feature of the box adapted to the functions outlined is the universal cover, which is so constructed and mounted that it shall normally close the receiving-compartment-that into which the ballots are castand which when thrown open shall close the retaining-compartment against "the escape of the cast ballots as they are transferred from the receiving-compartment.

To the ends above stated my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents in plan view my improved ballotbox in condition for balloting. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical medial section of said box.

A indicates the body portion of the box, which may be provided with any suitable handle, one form and location of which is indicated at B. This box maybe oblong, as shown, and formed of wood, metal, or any suitable material, the sides being preferably higher than the ends and arched, as seen at C. Extending across the box from side to side is located a partition, as D, which is preferably inclined, as shown, and separates the receiving-compartment E from the retaining compartment F. To the rear of partition D,

and extending from side to side of the box, is a deiiecting-plate G, which is separated from said partition and inclined thereto in a manner to form therewith a sort of chute or hopper to assist in transferring the cast ballots from chamber E to chamber F. This plate also acts as a shield to prevent the voter from seeing the ballots that have been cast. The partition D and plate G, which form the dividingawall between the two compartments, constitute a hopper leading into the receiving-compartment E, and at the same time a chute leading from compartment E into compartment F. Also, to facilitate the entrance and discharge of ballots to and from chamber E, I place or form at the foot of partition D an inclined block, as H, which is provided with a blunt lower edge, thereby causing said block to perform the additional function of keeping the cast ballots back from the mouth of the hopper a sufficient distance to enable the shield G to completely hide them from the view of the voter.

The universal cover for the box is formed of sector-like end pieces I, pivoted at the vertical middle line of the box, as at J, and having their curved edges connected together by the curved plate K. This cover may, as shown, be so formed and pivoted that the curved plate thereof will ride at a distance from the curved edges C of the end pieces or directly upon them. The cover may also be made to operate7 as in a roller-top desk, sliding in grooves in the side pieces from end to end of the box. Any suitable handle may be added to the cover to facilitate the manipulation thereof, a knob for that purpose being shown, as at L.

The box is manipulated as follows: When ready for balloting, all the ballots are in chamber F, as indicated in full lines at and the cover is in the position shown in the drawings, thereby closing chamber E. In voting, a ballot is taken in the ingers from chamber F and passed over partition D into chamber E, wh ere a couple are represented in dotted lines at ai. In Fig. 2 a hand is represented in the act of so passing a ballot. Vhen the balloting has been completed, the cover is swung back from the chamber E, thereby exposing the cast ballots to view and in the same act covering the chamber F. When the ballots have been counted, to return or transfer them to the retaining-chamber F it is only neces- IOO sary to raise the end of the boX having the handle B, when all the ballots will immediately pass through the chute formed by parts D G H into chamber F, from which, during this operation, the cover prevents them from escaping. This is much quicker and surer than the old method of transferring the ballots by hand.

The form, construction, and arrangement of parts may be changed from that shown in the drawings without departing from my invention so long as the principle of operation remains the same.

What I claim as my invention is l. A ballot-box consisting of a ballot-re- 'ceiving compartment and `a ballot-retaining compartment placed side by side, and thc dividing-wall between said compartments consisting of two plates forming between them a combined hopper and chute, the hopper leading into the receiving-compartment and the chute leading from the receivingcompartment into the retaining-compartment, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A ballot-box provided with a ballot-receiving compartment, a ballot-retaining compartment, and with a chute between said compartments for the transfer of the ballots from the former to the latter, in combination with a cover movable from one compartment to the other, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a ballot-box, the combination with the body of the box, of the partition D, and shield G, arranged substantially as described and forming two compartments and a chute therebetween, and the curved cover pivoted to the box and movable from one compartment to the other, as and for the purpose set forth.

Signed at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, this 19th day of July, A. D. 1895.

RILEY L. JONES.

Witnesses:

AGNns GUNNER, CHAs. G. BEACH. 

